


Silent Beginnings

by hellaradholly



Series: Love is Deaf [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Deaf Character, Karasuno, M/M, lots of mentioned charcters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 17:33:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6529456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellaradholly/pseuds/hellaradholly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Kei ends up with more relationships than he ever expected despite his inability to communicate normally.<br/>This is for Parker's beautiful deaf!Tsukki AU. It inspired me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silent Beginnings

Kei knew he was different from all his peers, and not in the “of course you’re special” way every mom tells their kids just to make them feel better about themselves. He was born deaf in a world of sounds and vocal communication: a fact, no matter how many times his family would assure him that it wasn’t a disability. He knew his family was just concerned and didn’t want him to feel like he was incapable, and he didn’t consider his life to be lacking.

His older brother, Akiteru, worried the most out of his family. He was constantly asking questions and trying to expand Kei’s dead social life despite his insistence that he was happy with his solitude.

Isolation was a solution of sorts due to his inability to easily communicate with people in general and the frustration caused by any attempts. When people tried to interact with him it typically resulted in a glare that his fellow students chalked up to him being standoffish and arrogant. Although Kei learned to read lips out of his desire to better understand the world around him, he still refrained from interacting with people unless it was absolutely necessary.

Surprisingly, Kei found a friend in middle school who even put in the effort required to learn sign language so that they could communicate. Tadashi was meek and usually bullied because of it. He was almost annoying in his determination to befriend Kei as he made painstaking efforts to learn sign language, constantly looking for Kei’s approval as he learned more. 

The two of them became close friends through middle school, with Kei being an intimidating figure to any bullies and Tadashi being the only social interaction he received outside of his family. It was nice to have someone else to talk to when his family was being overbearing like they almost always were. That said, Tadashi could be overbearing in his own way but it was a nice change of pace even if Kei would just huff and act annoyed at his antics.

Because of Tadashi his social circle expanded to include people he never would have associated with (essentially any other warm body). At first he thought it was annoying to be around so many people but he eventually found the presences comforting despite how bright and irritating Hinata, Kageyama, and the others could be. Hinata was a constant orange blur that hurt his eyes and made Kei grateful for his deafness as every action screamed with volume. He had never seen someone who  _ looked _ so loud. 

Everyone had always tried to explain what sound was like and after meeting Hinata it finally seemed to make sense. They didn’t interact often in the beginning but unfortunately Tadashi thought he was wonderful and would be a fantastic influence on Kei’s cold demeanor. 

Kageyama was a bit better though he was prone to sudden outbursts of yelling. When they first met the two had clashed because Kageyama was too stupid to understand that Kei was deaf and not just rude, though he was rude as well. Exposure made them reluctant friends and it helped that without Hinata around he was more reserved but not less intense. They would occasionally clash but it was easy to ignore him.

Reading Kageyama’s lips was probably the most difficult out of everyone Kei knew. If he wasn’t yelling at full volume he was muttering and stumbling over his words. It was infuriating but he couldn’t really do anything about it.

There were others as well such as Nishinoya and Tanaka who would always shove food in his face and poke at his sides because of his scrawny nature. They were somewhat like older, more respectable versions of Kageyama and Hinata. Unfortunately, he had to be around Tanaka more than he had anticipated when Akiteru revealed that he was dating Saeko, Tanaka’s older sister. In case he didn’t think family reunions were bad enough Tanaka, or Ryuu as he insisted, now considered himself an older brother with Nishinoya insisting he had honorary “bro” privileges. 

Wherever Nishinoya went it was almost guaranteed that he would Asahi with him who was the other polar opposite that Kei was used to dealing with when interacting with the hearing. While most of the people he was subjected to were forgetful and careless Asahi was  _ too _ mindful of his deafness. He constantly behaved as if the act speaking would personally offend Kei. It wasn’t like he was at fault for the blond’s deafness.

Sawamura and Sugawara acted like parents to their mismatched group as well as constantly being with each other. The two acted like a married couple  It wasn’t surprising when the two announced that they had started dating and were moving in together shortly after graduating from the high school.

Things were normal though it seemed baffling that the members of their social circle were making efforts to learn sign and communicate with Kei despite his apparent bad personality and general rudeness to everyone he interacted with. Nishinoya however continued to insist that it was part of his charm and what made him interesting.

Of course a wrecking ball of a human named Bokuto Koutarou had decided to ruin everything. In reality it was all Hinata’s fault for pulling the hyperactive man-child into their group on a day when things were blessedly relaxed. Things were just never allowed to be easy for Kei. He was cursed to be surrounded by obnoxious idiots for the rest of his life.

The one blessing was that Akaashi would usually be present in order to monitor his child of a boyfriend. He was the opposite of everything Kei had put up with for years. He almost didn’t know what it was like to be near someone moderately sane anymore, though he was still questionable if he was dating someone like Bokuto. 

However, it was truly a sad day when he found himself surrounded by the most annoying people he had ever met  _ all at the same time _ . 

Hinata, being the loud mouth that he was, had decided to inform everyone but Kei that they would all be studying with his help because, unlike the rest he had some degree of intelligence. It was amazing that he hadn’t murdered Hinata right then, really. Instead he was preoccupied with helping the same four morons he had known for years, with two new additions that didn’t know any sign. 

Why Bokuto had come and brought his friend Kuroo didn’t make sense to him. Bokuto wasn’t actually stupid despite his childish nature and Kuroo despite looking like a delinquent seemed to have a firm grasp of his material as well. It seemed more likely that they were just along for the show of Kei losing his patience and Ryuu threatening to make it a family matter if he didn’t help now that they were actually in-laws. 

After that horrific event he began to see more of Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akaashi as the three merged into their mismatched group of friends. Kuroo seemed persistent in trying to maintain a conversation with him for reasons Kei couldn’t fathom but he accepted it. Acceptance was always easier with people like him anyways. 

Despite not being an idiot like most of his acquaintances and understanding that Kei was deaf, Kuroo had a habit of constantly talking around him. It wasn’t extremely bothersome since he only ever talked about minor things, choosing to write down anything he actually wanted a response to, but it was a bit strange.

So it’s not like Kei was to blame if he happened to know things Kuroo hadn’t actually meant to tell him. It was really Kuroo’s fault for constantly talking about everything. Kei didn’t necessarily need to know that Bokuto had plastered himself in temporary owl tattoos while drunk or that Kenma’s favorite food was apple pie. He wasn’t one to pass up on potential blackmail material though so he never informed Kuroo. 

This oversight lead to his current predicament. Kuroo was hanging out with him at his dorm room while Tadashi was sleeping or spending time with friends that weren’t antisocial and constantly pestering him with questions while simultaneously trying to learn sign.

The notepad was still heavily relied on but it was clear that at least his fingerspelling was improving. Occasionally Kei found it entertaining to sign too quickly for Kuroo (and most people that weren’t Tadashi or his family) to understand but unlike most of his acquaintances Kuroo quickly caught onto his game and would patiently wait for Kei to sign slower. 

It was in one of these moments that Kuroo had just laughed and started talking to himself. “You know Tsukki, you’re really cute sometimes. I think I like you.”

And that couldn’t be right. Kuroo was usually easy to lip read but he must have missed something. Trying not to show his thoughts, Kei gave Kuroo the look he had specially reserved for when the man started talking to himself and received a quick “sorry” motion accompanied by a sheepish but decidedly unapologetic smile. 

With that event written off as a misunderstanding Kei believed his life would return to normal but everyone loved to prove him wrong. 

Kuroo continued to talk at length about how he liked him whenever the two of them together. It was starting to border on annoying when he finally caught Kei’s attention to sign shakily. “ _ I want to date you. _ ”

Huffing in amusement, the deaf blond easily responded, “ _ I was wondering when you would ask. _ ”

The shocked expression he received only heightened his feelings of amusement which became laughter as Kuroo scrambled for both words and sign. He finally pulled his hand away from his forehead, confusion evident on his face. “ _ You knew? _ ”

Not even trying to hide his grin, Kei calmly responded by motioning his pointer and middle fingers in front of his mouth. “ _ I read lips. _ ”

He could tell Kuroo was groaning now as he covered his face with his hands while red steadily bloomed across it. He was saying something but it was impossible to tell what with the way his hands were covering his face. It was still nice to see him embarrassed for once so Kei used the opportunity to snap a picture with his phone. 

The sound must have been on because Kuroo’s head immediately snapped up and his eyes widened. It looked like he was saying something but then he quickly corrected and used sign. “ _ Did you just take a picture of me? _ ”

Despite only shrugging in reply Kei’s smirk revealed the truth of the matter. It was a cute picture but obviously Kuroo had other ideas as he narrowed his eyes and broke out into a pleased grin. “ _ If you want pictures that badly you just need to ask. _ ” 

Rolling his eyes at the other’s antics Kei easily went back to their original subject. “ _ I will go out with you. _ ”

He then found himself looking at the ceiling with Kuroo grinning at him from above as he rambled to himself like usual. It was a nice start. 


End file.
